Sash fastener



Feb. 13,4923. 4,445,429

W. R. BALLARD SA SH FASTENER Filed Jan. 25, 1922 7 V nninmul v 4 a2. 4 7 5 1 b a 5 a" v w-TQ-iaa'i'lapd INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Feh. l3, i923 WILLIAM; R. BirLLAR-D, 0F HAUBSTADT, INDIANA.

SASH FASTENEBJ.

application filed January 25, 1922. Serial No. 531,697.

To all whom; it may concern .1

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM R. BALLARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Haubstadt, in the county of Gibson and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sash Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

invention relates to sash fasteners. The object is to provide a fastener for Windew sashes which will efl'ectually loclr the upper sash from being lowered or the lower sash from being raised until the parts are manually released, when these movements of the sashes may be accomplished and the coacting parts of the fastener are in a position to automatically look again, when the sashes are moved to closed position to prevent their movement until again released.

Another object is to. improve the construction of sash fasteners by the elimination ot' friction in the movement of the locking lever through the medium of a ball hearing, which not only facilitates said movement but provides for a silent movement of said lever.

the latter being provided with an extension projecting from the casing of the lock tor the attachment of a cord or the like by means of which the fastener may be released for action in permitting the movement of either of the sashes from a distance, this being especially advantageous where the lock is used on windows of considerable height.

A full and complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from a consid eration of the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part ofthis specification, it being understood that while the drawing shows a practical form of the invention, the latter is not confined to strict conformity therewith, but may be changed or modified, so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention, as specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing, in which similar reference characters designate corresponding. parts throughout the several figures:

Figure l is a perspective view of a portion of the meeting rails of window sashes having the members of the sash "fastener attached thereto and showing the same in locked position.

Figure 2 is a detail perspective view of the locking member of the fastener, the casing or housing being partly broken away to better disclose thedockinp; lever and the trigger I l igure 3 is a transverse sectional View through the coactinn' members of the tastener and the respective rails on which they are mounted. the parts being; in position to permit the movement of the sashes;

Figure 4- is a similar view showing; the trigger in position to hold the locking lever hack from engagement with the keeper;

Figure 5 is an inverted plan of the locle ing member, the casing or housing being partly broken away. i

In the drawing there is illustrated the upper cross bar or rail 1 of the lower sash of a window, and the lower rail 2 oil? the upper sash thereof, which are shown in Figure 1 in the usual meeting relation when the sashes are closed. Mounted on the upper face of? "the rail 1 is. an elongated rectangular housing 3, comprising a base plate 4 having); e3;- tensions or cars 5 at each end, suitablv apertured for the reception oi tasteninh" screws 6. which have their heads counter sunk in the ears and serve to hold the housing of the locking mechanism at a point substantially at the center otthe rail as is usual.

The front wall 7 oi the housing. or. that wall facing towards the interior of the room. is imperforate while the opposite w; ll. or that directed towards the adjacent lower rail of the upper sash, is provided with the opening 8 extending from end to end thereof, and one of the end walls 9 of the housing is provided with the opening 10 tor a purpose to be explained. V

The top or cover 1 1. ot' the housing may of a plate co-extensi .'e with the housing; and having its corners secured to the corners of the housingas by screws or rivets. after certain parts to be described are properly mounted therein. The rover 11 is provided at its center with a ra d enlar. ment or dome i2 extending tr thereof, and provided with a transverse shit or opening- 13 extending towards the rear wall oi the housing and connnundating; with the opening 8 therein.

A keeper 141- is carried by the lower sash rail 2 ot the upper ash, and comprisesa plate of equal length and height to the housing 3, said plate Ne having a slot 15 extending throughout the major portion 0t its length and having a reduced z-lttacliing porthat the front face of the keeper is flush.-

with the front face of the rail throughout its length, the attaching portion 16 being sultably apertured for the reception of counter,

sunk heads of screws shown in dotted lines in Figures 3 and 4. The upper edge of the keeper has its front corner rounded as at 17.

Mounted within the housing is a locking lever 19 which has its inner enlarged end pivoted upon a vertically dispose-d pivot pin 20 located near the imperforate end wall 9, and the said lever is gradually reduced in width towards the other end thereof where it terminates in a finger 21, which extends through the opening or slot 10 in the other end wall 9 and is adapted to-have the end of a cord 22' or chain attached thereto for the purpose of operating the said lever from a distance. The rear face or' edge of the locking lever is adapted to normally'lie flush with the. rear edge of the base plate 4 of the housing, as clearly shown in Figure 2 of the drawing, and the said lever is provided at an intermediate point, in alinement with the slot 13 of the cover 11 with a recess 23 into which is adapted to project the lower end of a locking dog or trigger 24.

The lever 19 is further provided, adjacent to the recess, with tongue 25 formed intdgrally therewith having its lower edge beveled as at 26 and adapted to normally extend beyond the rear face of the housing and into the slot 15 of the keeper 14, under the action of a metal spring 27 resting upon the upper face of the base plate a of the housing and confined within a cut-out portion 28 provided in tlje under face of the lever 19 for the purpose. The spring 27 consists of a length of resilient spring steel bent at an intermediate point to provide spaced opposed arms to bear respectively against the inner face of the front imperforate wall 7 of the housing and against the opposed wall of the lever 19 formed by the cut-out portion thereof, as clearly shown in Figure 5 of the drawing, the extent of rearward movement of the lever 19 being 1 limited by the projecting finger 21 thereof coming into contact with the rear end of the slot or opening 10 formed in the end wall 9. The lever is thus held in position under tension of the spring 27, with the tongue 25 projecting into the slot 15 of the keeper, which will prevent the upward movement of the lower sash until the locking lever 19 is caused to move away from the keeper by a pull on the cord or chain, or otherwise engaging the projecting finger 21 of the lever, at which time the pressure on the said spring is increased.

The locking dog or trigger 24 consists of a metallic block having its outer exposed face conforming with and lying fiush with the upper surface of the dome 1:2, and snugly fitting the slot 13 therein, a pivot pin 29 passing horizontally through the dog or trigger near its rear face, and having its ends carried by the adjacent walls of the slot 13 and serving as a fulcrum for the dog for the same to rock about by gravity.

The dog or trigger 24 has its lower frontportion cut away to provide a horizontal abutment shoulder 30 adapted to normally rest upon the upper face of Y the looking lever 19 as shown in Figure 3, while the forward end of said shoulder is provided with another cut-out, thus providing a second shoulder 31 which is adapted to rest upon the upper face of the lever when the latter is moved forwardly by the string or otherwise, and to hold the said" lever in such position by reason of the fact that the abutting wall 32 formed by said second cutout is hearing against the rear wall of the recess 23 in thelever l9 and holding the same against movement, as clearly shown in Figure 4 of'the drawing.

With the rails 1 and 2 in parallel relation to each other, when the window is closed, as

shown in Figure 1, the spring 27 forces the locking lever 19 rearwardly until the finger 21 strikes the rear end of the slot 10 in the end wall, 9, at which time the tongue 27 is projected into the slot 15 of the keeper 1% carried by the lower rail 2 of the upper sash, and by reason of this fact neither of the sashes can be moved in an upwardly or downwardly direction. The rear portion of the dog or trigger 24, which is reduced by reason of the cut-out forming the shoulder 30, is extended rearwardly at its lower end to form a toe 33, having its upper face curved as at 34, and said toe is confined within the housing between the walls of the slot 23 with the shoulder 30 of the dog or trigger resting upon the upper face of the locking lever through gravity by reason of the rearward posit-ion of the pivot pin 2.). If now it is desired to raise the lower sash or lower the upper sash to open the window, the string or chain 22 is pulled, or the lever 19 is otherwise drawn forwardly against the pressure of the spring 27, and the tongue is withdrawn from engagement with the keeper and the trigger or dog Qdrops by gravity, when the second cut-out 31 rests on the lever with the abutting wall 32 holding the lever retracted when the movement of either sash may be accomplished, as illustrated in, Figure 1. i

As the opening movement of the sashes progresses, however, the toe 33 of the dog or trigger comes into contact with the upper wall of the slot 15 of the keeper 14, when the said trigger is rocked aboutits fulcrum and the forward, weighted end of the same is elevated to bring the cut-out forming the shoulder 30 into alinement with the upper race of the lever 19, when the latter is immediately projected rearwardly again by means of the expansive force ot the spring 27, and the tongue 25 .caused to lie in the path of the keeper but above and tree ot the same, to be brought subsequently into contact with the upper rounded edge 17 thereof, when the sashes are closed again, such contact causing the lever to recede to permit the tongue to pass the keeper bar and to be immediately projected again by the spring to loclr the two sashes together. it will thus be seen that to open the window, it is necessary to manually operate the lockn 5 mg lever, and that the trigger or dog automatically acts to hold the lever in retracted position, and that. when the sashes are opened, the upper rounded face of the toe serves to elevate the active end of the trigger so that the lever may spring into locking position again to automatically lock with the keeper, when the sashes are again closed.

Mounted within a suitable recess in the upper face of the lever 19 substantially at the base of the tongue 25, is an anti-friction ball 35 which provides for the easy and noiseless movement of the said lever, the said ball bearing against the under side of the cap or cover 11.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a simple and cheaply manutactured sash tastener has been provided, which may be easily installed in position on the sashes of a window, and that the same effectually prevents closing the sashes without locking the same, as the moment the coacting locking members pass each other in an opening movement, the said parts are set to automatically lock when the sashes are again closed. I

While I have described my invention as a sash fastener, the device has possibilities of: use outside of the meeting rails of sashes to gether and may be employed in analogous relations in detachahly securing two movable parts or members.

l i hat is claimed is 1. In a fastening device, a housing adapted to be secured to one movable member, said housing having an opening in its side wall, a horizontally swinging locking lever arranged within the housing and pivoted thereto, said locking lever having a tongue,

a spring within the housing bearing against the lever to project the tongue through said side opening, a trigger within the housing for engaging the lever when the latter is retracted, said trigger having a part projecting from the housing when in engagement with the lever, and a keeper carried by another member to be engaged by the tongue of the locking lever, said keeper being adapted to engage the projecting part of the trigger, when said members are moved relatively to each other, so as to release the trigger from its engagement with the lever.

2. In a fastening device, the combination of a housing adapted to be secured to one member, said housing having an opening in its side wall, a horizontally swinging locking lever pivoted within the housingand having a tongue. a spring within the housing adapted to project the tongue of the lever through the side opening, a trigger pivoted above the lever and adapted to engage the latter by gravity when the lever is retracted against the tension of the spring, and a keeper carried by another member adapted to be engaged by the tongue of the lever to prevent relative movement of said members, said keeper being adapted to actuate the trigger upon relative movement of said parts to disengage the trigger from the lever.

3. A fastening device comprising a housing having an opening in one side and one end wall, a horizontally swinging locking lever pivoted in the housing and having a tongue extending through the side opening and a finger projecting through the end opening, a spring within the casing operatmg against the lever to project the tongue from the housing, a trigger pivoted to the housing above the lever and adapted to enby gravity an edge of the lever when the latter is retracted, and a keeper to be engaged by the tongue of the locking lever, said keeper being adapted to actuate the trigger to disengage the trigger from its engagementwith the lever.

4L. In a sash fastener, the combination of a housing adapted to be secured to the top rail of a lower sash, said housing having an opening in a side wall and an opening in an end wall, a horizontal swinging locking lever arranged within the housing and pivoted at one end remote from the open end of the housing, and having a tongue adapted to be extended through the side opening and a finger extending through the end opening, a spring for the lever which normally tends to force the tongue outwardly through the side opening, a horizontally pivoted trigger adapted to engage by gravity with an edge of the lever when the latter is retracted against the tension of the spring, and a loopshaped keeper carried by the lower rail of the upper sash to be engaged by the tongue of the locking lever so as to prevent movement of the sashes, said keeper being adapted to actuate the trigger when one of the sashes is moved to disengage the trigger from the lever.

5. A sash fastener comprising a lock housing adapted to be secured to the top rail of a lower sash, said housing having an elongated opening in its rear wall, and an opening in one end wall, a horizontally swinging locking lever pivoted at its inner end within the housing and having a tongue extending through the rear elongated opening, and a finger extending through the end opening for the attachment of a pull cord or chain to swing the lever, a spring Within the housing and adapted to force the movable end of the lever in a rearward direction to project the tongue. at horizontally pivoted trigger or dog having a toe and mounted Within the cover of the housing above the locking lever to swing transversely thereof and having a vertically disposed shoulder adapted to engage by gravity with the edge of the lever when the latter is retracted into the housing to hold the same, and a' loopshaped keeper carried by the lower rail of the upper sash tobe engaged by tlie tongue of the locking lever to prevent movement of the sashes and adapted to actuate the trigger when the sashes are moved to remove the shoulder of the trigger from its engagement with the lever to set the latter for automatic locking.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as 25 my own, I havehereto aiiixed my signature.

WILLIAM R. BALLARD. 

